Doc accuses J&K minister of making sexual advances

The police have registered a case against Jammu and Kashmir Minister of State (MoS) for Health Shabir Ahmad Khan for allegedly making sexual advances towards a doctor.

Sources said the doctor told the police that the minister, who belongs to Congress, called her to his office for a briefing during which he allegedly made vulgar remarks and sexual advances.

“She (doctor) said she was called by the minister to the winter secretariat in Srinagar to brief on announcements made by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad during his recent visit to the Valley,” the sources said. “At the secretariat, she was asked to wait in a small cabin where she was joined by the minister later. She alleged that the minister made vulgar remarks and advances. She also said the minister asked her to come to his residence to serve kehwa (Kashmiri green tea),” they said.

Following the complaint by the doctor, the police have registered a case against the minister under sections 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and 509 (a word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman). The offence is non-bailable. The sources said higher-ups gave the nod to register an FIR against the minister. They said the alleged victim was a senior doctor working in the Directorate of Health in Kashmir. The allegations against the minister could be damaging for the ruling Congress in Kashmir before the elections. Shabir Ahmad Khan was not available for a response.